Spring 2012

Thinking Differently about Culture

Faculty

Description

In this course, we will focus attention first on the dynamics of cultural difference which characterize the civil rights era in the United States and use our sociological assessment of them to frame an analysis of culture leading up to and following from this tumultuous time, paying particular attention to what is now commonly referred to as a “post civil rights era.” Some of the important questions we will ask are: How adequate are conventional sociological ideas of culture—ideas that presume “cohesion” and “commonality,” among other things—when it comes to conceptualizing, documenting, and theorizing cultural difference? What are the consequences of accounting for cultural difference as something to be incorporated into what is, or could be, held in common by people? What is at stake, sociologically speaking, when aspects of cultural difference--previously ignored or marginalized in hegemonic accounts--become the focal point of intellectual inquiry or political practice? How do we distinguish among discourses of cultural difference? How are they subject to cooptation, assimilation, or exploitation?

Limited to 20 students. Not open to first year students. Spring semester. Professor Lembo.

If Overenrolled: First priority given to senior and junior sociology majors, then seniors and juniors.

Keywords

SOCI 332 - L/D

Section 01Tu 02:00 PM - 04:30 PM FAYE 113

Textbooks

Below are the textbooks used in this course, along with pricing information and availability at local bookstores. The price range shown is based upon queries to multiple online booksellers; roll your mouse over the price field to see detailed pricing information.

This is preliminary information about books for this course. Wait for this message to go away, or contact your instructor, before attempting to purchase these books.

ISBN

Title

Publisher

Author(s)

Book Store

Price

Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness

New York: Basic Civitas

John Jackson

Amherst Books

TBD

The Ethnic Myth: Race, Ethnicity, and Class in America

Beacon Press

Stephen Steinberg

Amherst Books

TBD

The Fire Next Time

New York: Vintage

James Baldwin

Amherst Books

TBD

The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency

New York: Pantheon

Randall Kennedy

Amherst Books

TBD

The Whites of their Eyes: The Tea party's Revolution and the BAttle over American History

Princeton University Press

Jill Lapore

Amherst Books

TBD

Turning Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy